In honor of years of hard work and dedication, the Gateway Baptist Childcare Center held a party for their director, LeAnn Shoemake Monday. The children and guests enjoyed a morning of pizza, laughter, and memories as they celebrated LeAnn’s years passed and years to come at Gateway.

For 24 years, children have walked into the doors of Gateway Childcare and into the arms of Mrs. LeAnn.

LeAnn started at Gateway Childcare Center in 1994, when the center was opened by her mother Shirley Williams and Diane Graham. LeAnn came to the center after years of working as a bookkeeper for Shelton Trucking and Mowrey Elevator. She made the decision to start working in childcare so that she could make a difference. Since starting, she has cared for an average of 31 children a week and has had the opportunity to watch children grow up and bring back children of their own.

According to LeAnn her favorite thing about working at Gateway is the children. “You never know what your day is going to be like, but it is always rewarding. In the beginning, we wanted a ministry that would nurture children and lay a foundation for making great adults” she told us, “Many of them come back to visit us years after they leave to catch us up on what they are doing. We appreciate that”.

Thank you LeAnn for your years of dedication and love to the children of Gateway and the Blountstown Community.